NEW YORK — Pitcher Nick Martinez emerged as the sole player to accept a qualifying offer among the 13 free agents who were extended a collective total of $21.05 million from their previous teams on Tuesday.

Several notable players, however, chose to decline the offers. These included outfielder Juan Soto from the New York Yankees, right-hander Corbin Burnes and outfielder Anthony Santander from the Baltimore Orioles, right-hander Nick Pivetta from the Boston Red Sox, third baseman Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros, first baseman Christian Walker from the Arizona Diamondbacks, left-hander Max Fried from the Atlanta Braves, outfielder Teoscar Hernández of the Los Angeles Dodgers, shortstop Willy Adames from the Milwaukee Brewers, and the New York Mets’ first baseman Pete Alonso, left-hander Sean Manaea, alongside right-hander Luis Severino.

Introduced after the 2012 season, the qualifying offer system has seen only 14 out of 144 proposals accepted so far. The qualifying offer amount is equivalent to the average salary of the 125 highest-paid players from the recently concluded season.

Notably, players can only receive a qualifying offer once in their career. As such, Martinez will be eligible for free agency again next offseason without any draft pick compensation tied to his signing.

Martinez accepted the qualifying offer from the Cincinnati Reds following a season in which he posted a record of 10 wins and 7 losses, along with a 3.10 ERA over 16 starts and 26 relief outings. He accumulated 116 strikeouts and walked just 18 in 142 and a third innings. Previously, he had accepted a $14 million, one-year deal in December that featured a $12 million player option, which he ultimately chose to decline. Over his career, Martinez has a record of 37-45 with a 4.09 ERA spanning seven seasons, having played for the Texas Rangers (2014-17), San Diego Padres (2022-23), and the Reds. Additionally, he spent four years from 2018 to 2021 playing baseball in Japan.

For players who opt to decline a qualifying offer and later sign with another team, the acquiring franchise must forfeit at least one pick in the next amateur draft, along with a portion of the signing bonus budget in the upcoming international signing period. Moreover, teams that lose players who reject their qualifying offers receive an additional pick in the amateur draft as compensation.